Pooja Dhingra (born 1986) is an Indian

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

and

businesswoman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

. She opened India's first

macaron A macaron ( , ) or French macaroon ( ) is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food colouring. The macaron is traditionally held to have been introduced in France by the Ital ...

store and is the owner of bakery chain Le15 Patisserie that specialises in macarons and a host of French desserts.

Biography

Dhingra was born into a family interested in gastronomy. Both her father and her brother Vaarun Dhingra are restaurant owners. She attended the famous-

Bombay Scottish School The Bombay Scottish School, Mahim (BSS or BSS Mahim), popularly known as Scottish, is a private, Christian co-educational day school located at Mahim West in Mumbai, India. The institution was established in 1847 by Scottish Christian missionar ...

in Mumbai. When still young, Dhingra learnt the art of baking from her aunt. She initially enrolled at a law school in Mumbai before quitting in 2004, switching careers to attend a hospitality and management course at the César Ritz school in

Le Bouveret Le Bouveret () is a village in the commune of Port-Valais in the Swiss canton of Valais. Situated at the southernmost end of Lake Geneva and close to the French border, Le Bouveret is very much tourism-oriented with several amusement attractions ...

, Switzerland. Three years later, she began training at

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (French for " The Blue Ribbon") is an international network of hospitality and culinary schools teaching French ''haute cuisine''. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The instituti ...

in Paris. There she came across her first macaron at one of

Pierre Hermé Pierre Hermé (; born 20 November 1961) is a French pastry chef and chocolatier. He began his career at the age of 14 as an apprentice to Gaston Lenôtre. Hermé was awarded the title of World's Best Pastry Chef in 2016 by The World's 50 Best Re ...

's patisseries. After completing her course, Dhingra returned to Mumbai and opened her first store in March 2010 with the single goal of creating Parisian styled culinary experiences in India. In 2016, Dhingra expanded her enterprise, opening a new location called Le15 Café in South Mumbai. While signature desserts named after French women will be featured, the cafe's menu includes simple, savoury food main course dishes. When she opened her Mumbai business in 2010, she had a staff of only two. By October 2014, she had as many as 42. Her ambition is to open establishments throughout India. She has been featured in national dailies and is a regular in fashion and lifestyle glossies not just for her abilities in the kitchen, but also as a dynamic businesswoman and inspiration to women - she was selected by Forbes India for their ‘30 Under 30’ achievers list for 2014 and the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list. She has published two books, a best seller (in India) on baking. and The Wholesome Kitchen She joined Chef

Vikas Khanna Vikas Khanna (born 14 November 1971) is an Indian chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, filmmaker and humanitarian. He is one of the judges of Star Plus series ''MasterChef India''. He is based in New York City. Early life and education Khanna ...

and Chef

Ranveer Brar Ranveer Singh Brar (born 8 February 1978) is a Lucknow-born and bred Indian celebrity chef, Masterchef India judge, author and restaurateur. He is well known as the host of popular Television food shows and as a judge in two seasons (four & six ...

as a judge of ''MasterChef India – Hindi 8'' airing on

Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel, that was launched on 30 September 1995, and is owned by Culver Max Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony. SET India's You ...

Bibliography

References

External links

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Le 15

Pooja Dhingra
at

Penguin India Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhingra, Pooja Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 1986 births 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Indian chefs Pastry chefs Indian cookbook writers Writers from Mumbai Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu